Culture Warriors

They spend their time fixated on other people's sex lives so you don't have to

Frank Cagle

12:09 PM, Feb 22, 2012

Do you wake up every morning worried about the Gay Agenda?

Do you find yourself fixated on what other people might be doing in their bedroom?

Do you want other people not to say "gay," but you say it all the time?

Or are you one of those people who go through life not really concerned about other people's sex lives?

I don't suppose we ought to generalize from individual cases. So gay-bashing evangelical ministers have been revealed to be having sex with gay prostitutes—it doesn't mean all gay-bashers are self-loathing closet homosexuals does it?

Most people are more concerned about their kids, their jobs, and just living life. I suppose the culture warriors among us have appointed themselves to do battle on our behalf. They fight the gay menace so you don't have to.

This is at a time when there is a cultural shift in America. Polls show most Americans are more liberal in their attitude toward gays. Especially the younger generation. Ellen DeGeneres, who makes no secret or apology for her lifestyle, is the most popular day time talk show host in post-Oprah America. Even in Knoxville. The right-wing women who are trying to organize a boycott of a department store that uses Ellen as a spokesperson just seem silly and out of step.

It appeared for a while that this Republican primary season, as bad as it is, would at least focus on jobs and the economy and not get bogged down in social issues. The state of the economy seemed to make President Obama vulnerable and it was widely believed the Republicans would sweep into office.

The Tea Party changed the political dialogue in 2010 and kept political campaigns focused on taxes and the budget deficit. The failure of the Congress to make any progress on that agenda has no doubt dulled enthusiasm.

But it remains an important issue and one that will resonate in the general election. But the Republican presidential primary seems to be headed down the road toward again trying to pick the leader of the free world based on social issues best left to the states.

At this juncture in our history and given the state of our economy, it is just stupid.

The rise of Rick Santorum will put social issues back at the forefront of the political campaign. He is poised to win the Michigan primary and become the front runner. Santorum is a big-government Republican who said this past weekend that he is not from the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. He said he has fought against the libertarian Republicans his entire career. That would be the wing of the party for smaller government, lower taxes, and personal freedom. The Tea Party wing.

Santorum has made it clear he opposes not only abortion, but contraception. He argues that prenatal care for pregnant women discovers birth defects and leads to abortion. He has compared gay unions as being the equivalent of bestiality. Santorum gets points for being sincere and consistent. Yes, he is a sincere and consistent theocrat. His views on women and gays would not be out of place in a madrassa in Saudi Arabia.

We had a legitimate First Amendment issue last week when the Obama administration ordered church-owned hospitals and charities to provide contraceptives, morning-after pills, and therapeutic abortions in their health-insurance plans, even if the church finds these things morally wrong. But the administration backed off, supposedly. The debate quickly degenerated into yahoos arguing against contraception. You had the image of an all-male congressional panel quizzing an all-male group of witnesses about women, pregnancy, and birth control.

Obama is brilliant in throwing these issues into the Republican campaign, or he continues to be the luckiest guy to ever enter politics.

Some elements of the Republican Party have already written off the Hispanic and African American vote. Their harsh rhetoric on gay issues is turning off the younger generation. Now they seem to be trying to turn off white women.

So the Republican Party will soon be made up of old white men screaming for everybody to get off their lawn.